We have all heard the tales about how driving in France is
dangerous, with the odd story from returning British tourists of ill-mannered
French drivers who will stop at nothing to overtake les Rosbifs, particularly in situations deemed to be
dangerous.Such tales usually give one
the impression that our French cousins are auditioning for a remake of ‘Death
Race 2000’ or similar, but are matters really so bad?

I have been living in France for seven years, and regularly
driving in that beautiful country for about forty.I freely admit to being a Francophile, but believe I can give an
objective opinion on the French, as seen from behind a steering wheel.

The biggest difference between the British and French is
that of speed – we are accustomed to maintaining position in a slow-moving
queue of traffic, the other drivers seeming to believe that being overtaken is
a personal insult.It therefore follows
that anyone who does so is obviously a maniac, and that such actions should
therefore be prevented if possible, usually by following the next vehicle too
closely to permit overtaking.

The French, on the other hand, like to drive at a decent
speed, and regard overtaking as a normal procedure.They do, however, have an unfortunate habit of cutting their
safety margin to the minimum, but when doing so the other drivers show a level
of co-operation which is unheard of in the UK.It is therefore easy to understand the horror stories of those who have
just made their first journey to France.With experience, however, one realises that most French drivers do not
have a death wish.

Although the French casualty rate is roughly twice as high
as the UK,I would not suggest that the
British are better drivers – quite the reverse – but of course the French drive
faster, so increasing the severity of their mistakes.Even so, they kill half the number of pedestrians than in the UK,
even though some years ago half these deaths took place on pedestrian
crossings!

On the subject of pedestrian crossings, remember that the
French tend to sprinkle them like confetti – even 30 mph is really too fast to
react to the often poorly markedand
faded crossings you will find in most villages. In a low car such as a Z3 it
can be even more difficult.Do not
worry about the reaction such low speeds may provoke from the driver behind
you, and do not allow yourself to be pressured into driving faster.

Watch out for roundabouts in towns, and remember that the French seldom use signals while negotiating them!

You will see quite a lot of small two-door cars, cruising noisily
at their maximum of 30 mph by courtesy of an engine which was obviously intended
for a cement mixer.View them with great
suspicion, as these cars may be driven without a licence, and are favoured by
those who have been banned from driving.In the absence of a licence, there is not real sanction against these being
driven by the intoxicated or unqualified.They are also becoming favoured, as an alternative to small motorcycles,
by parents who wish their children to become adults!

Some estimates claim that three million French drivers have
never taken a test, the penalty for which can include a £10,000 fine and a year
in jail!When discovered, the miscreant
is given a choice of facing the law, or learning to drive properly, the fees
being paid by the state. If the test is neither taken nor passed, the law will
take over, but after passing the cost is repaid at the rate of one Euro per
day, the initial expense being met by revenue from ‘Safety’ cameras.

Heavy rain can fall suddenly, particularly in the mountains

Another bad habit is the strong drink and driving culture,
particularly amongst older drivers, which remains alive in spite of severe
penalties for a level of alcohol which would not result in prosecution in the
UK.It is quite common to see drivers,
including the police, enjoying a glass of wine during their morning break,
while some truck drivers, fresh from their 44 tonne camion, will often consume a litre of red wine with their
lunch!

Tailgating used to be a real problem, but is not such a
regular occurrence since it was made a serious offence.Its most popular application is to be found
just before overtaking, when the typical French driver will do his best to lock
onto the rear bumper of the car in front, while positioned half a car width to
the offside.The best answer, of
course, is to actively encourage the driver to overtake – acceleration will
simply prompt a repeat of the performance a few miles along the road.However, if being tailgated while observing
a 50 kph (30 mph) speed limit, particularly by a small white van etc, it will
do no harm to be prepared, and to out-accelerate the offender at the end of the
speed limit.If it later catches you
up, let it go – again, do not race with the locals, for they know no fear!

In spite of such considerations, I feel safer when driving
amongst the French than during a trip through the UK, at far lower speeds.

One reason for this is the French preoccupation with
overtaking – this means that they are paying attention to the traffic
conditions, rather than using a mobile phone, or checking that their satellite
navigation system is telling them where they know they already are.

Driving in rural France remains a pleasure

Another aid to maintaining one’s attention on driving is the
virtual absence of the various ‘Safety’ devices now so common in the UK.While speed humps can sometimes be found,
they are of the correct (sine wave) profile, and I have yet to experience the
peculiarly British fashion for crude strips of tarmac, which effectively limit
speeds to walking pace.The mid-lane
bumps one often finds in built-up areas, apparently designed to rip the sump
off any car which straddles them while doing nothing to the 4X4 or white van
brigades, are unknown in France.

Many of the autoroutes are peage (toll) roads, where one
usually collects a ticket on entry to the road, and are charged at the exit. Do not try to pay in cash, which is a
cumbersome process leaving us with a pocketful of change, but use your UK credit
card – a quick and easy process.Some
cards need to be ‘unlocked’ for use in Europe, and it is worth checking this
before departure.

Most peage stations are unmanned ,
and will accept either cash or le Card du Credit - just insert your
ticket into the LH slot, and your credit card into the RH slot.The machine will swallow the ticket, and
return the credit card.

In the same way, most major Stations de Peage have avenues
for Cartes du Credit or Carte Bleu, where a credit card can be used in
the same manner.

In general, if the Peage booths are not unduly busy,
the quickest way through is to use any manned/womanned avenues but in busy
areas just drive into a credit card or Carte Bleu avenue.If driving alone, the drivers behind you
will realise your situation, but a smile and a wave does no harm.In such conditions I use a long stick with a
bulldog clip at its end, which holds my credit card and the current autoroute
ticket, and poke it towards the peage operator – when the Z3 roof is up, it
must look like some kind of artificial arm!

The lower numbers of speed ‘Safety’ cameras are another
welcome change, the relatively few fixed cameras being at fatal accident
scenes, while many cameras are large enough to climb
inside!There can be no excuses for
being ‘on camera.’

If the absence of these ‘Aids’ to safety gives one a feeling
of liberation and relaxation, the presence of life-size, black-painted steel
figures, each representing a road death, certainly concentrates one’s mind on
the task in hand.

One sometimes sees the Gendarmerie
operating a laser speed camera – looking similar to a pair of huge binoculars
mounted on a tripod. These are generally used at accident black spots on the Routes Nationales, and in built-up
areas, often a convenient distance from a bar or restaurant!Hand-held lasers are not used at all.

If stopped for speeding, do not expect any sympathy from les Gendarmes, who generally dislike
the way in which foreign tourists – particularly the British – seem unable to
appreciate that France, like the UK, has laws which should be at least slightly
obeyed.The British, apparently, are
the worst offenders, and will soon be targeted, along with the Swiss and
Italians.Those who attain 150+ mph on
the autoroute after le Mans, for example, will soon provide examples when their
UK driving licences are be suspended for offences in France.Bend the law, but do not destroy it.

The French government seems to have the refreshing attitude
that cars are a social necessity, not an evil.Although the government does not have a large income from motorists, the
quality of roads has continued to improve – except in 50 kph (30 mph) zones,
where often-hideous surfaces are used as a form of speed limiting!This seems to work, for the French obey
urban speed limits with greater care then the British.

On many roads you will seldom meet another car

In the same way, French drivers display a far greater
sympathy for cyclists, perhaps a result of their long-standing love affair with
pedal power.You will encounter
cyclists all over France, particularly on the mountain passes used during le Tour de France.Do not, however, overtake them without being
sure that the road ahead is clear, and give them adequate clearance (the law
requires 1.4 metres) – too many car drivers neglect this simple rule, much to
their chagrin when the cyclist catches up with them on a downhill section!

The older traffic lights are rather dim, but have repeater lights at a
level where they can be easily seen from a low car, and make a straight change
from red to green, so preventing any ‘Amber Gamblers.’Outside peak hours, you will sometimes see a
continuous flashing amber light, which means ‘Proceed with caution,’ and should
be treated with great care.

Roundabouts can be exciting, as the French seldom indicate,
sometimes making it difficult to guess if the car entering a Roulade two exits way on your left is
going to take the first exit, or suddenly lean on its door handles and pass in
front of you!At least the French do
not use many painted circle-type mini roundabouts, which most UK drivers will
simply drive across, even when another car is circumnavigating it correctly.

A real problem is keeping an eye open for the inevitable Priorité a Droit junctions, from which –
if on one’s right –it is possible that
a car may pull out.Look out for the
triangular ‘X’ signs. For a people who worship at the shrine of logic, this
seems an odd aberration indeed, until one realises that WE should give way to
traffic at any junction on our right, even if we think that we are on the major road.

While most French drivers do not push the principle too far,
there are always a few who do!What
should happen is that traffic from one’s left should slow down and give way to
us to pull out – we should not assume priorite and pull out in frontof traffic approaching from out left.

The best advice is to expect others to assume priorité, but not to do so yourself
unless conditions are obviously safe.

The exceptions are junctions marked with a 'Passage Protecte' sign, or on a road denoted as a priorite road by a yellow diamond shaped sign. At the end of the priorite (such as when entering a buit-up area) your priorite will be cancelled by the same sign with a black line across it.

When overtakingkeep a good distance from the next vehicle, using your mirrors and the view
ahead which you will have up the inside, there should be few problems.Do not, however, attempt to race with the
locals!

Probably the only real danger you will meet when driving in
France will come from children, for fourteen-year-olds are permitted to ride
small motorcycles, without the benefit of much training.They will overtake along
the outside of a queue of traffic turning left, emerge from blind junctions at
their full 30 mph, and do all the other stupid things trainee riders should be warned
about – even the French drivers are afraid of them!At least you will hear them coming, for it is considered de rigeur to fit the noisiest expansion
chamber available, and to constantly tweak the throttle to get the little
engine on the boil before its centrifugal clutch is fully engaged.

I have always regarded this as being a system designed to
ensure the survival of the fittest, but the Road Safety Minister is on record
as stating that the tolerance of this problem must end.The machines must be registered by the end
of this year, after which I foresee a normal legislative system being enforced
– thank goodness!

France is a country of pretty villages

Signposting is generally excellent, but be prepared for a
small difference – a sign pointing left on the right hand side of the road
means ‘Straight On,’ while a similar sign on the left hand side means
‘Left.’Nowhere will you find the
familiar ‘Upwards’ sign meaning ‘Straight On.’While you decipher this, the French may become impatient, so try to make
it second nature.

The French like to sound their horns if behind an
undecisive driver, but do not interpret this as an ill-mannered action, as do
so many British drivers – it is simply a reminder to do something, and is not
(as in the UK) taken or intended as an emotional reaction.

So – do not think that driving in France is a hazardous
occupation, but neither is it just like driving in the UK, or even
Germany.Meet the French drivers on
their own terms, make allowances for their habits, and you will find that they
are competent but injudicious, courteous yet intolerant, and law-abiding yet
anarchical.They may play by different
rules, but they are not that much different from you.

My experiances in France have all been positive, once you get used to the signs pointing at a angle!

I have travelled to Le mans 7 or 8 times & this year went with my son in my Z3, one of the reasons for buying it. We travelled from Hertsfordshire to Poole for the early 07.30 fast cat & got to Arnage around 4.00 pm local time. We have found staying off the toll roads no hiderance and there are now traditional stop offs at Sees and just outside Arnage for supplies. The Z3 was great & we were caught up by an almost indentical French Z3 who we exchanged greetings with.

The trip back was via Caan to Portsmouth. This is the only downer on the trip. We got away in good time and stopped a few times for coffee/lunch on the way. Being about 50 cars from the front of the queue we anticipated an early departure once docked at Portsmouth.

This is the rub & where experiance or lack of it shows. The early cars are sent to the top deck of the ferry which is raise once full. The late cars go underneath & therefore get off first. So an hour after docking we eventually got rolling on Brit soil.

So next year the plan is to get to the ferry later & hopefully get off the boat earlier.

Not all ferries are the same - most of them can handle unloading from all decks at the same time. It also depends on the facilities at the port, which may only have a ramp for the main bow entrance, while others, such as Dover, have ramps for the main and upper decks. Generally, expect slow unloading at the smaller ports and from the older ships.

At least if you have to wait you avoid being in the mass of cars, which can often result in a mobile traffic jam or a race!

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